Release date: 1986
Label: ARC Music
Production: Pierre Moerlen
Length: 40:44
Genre: jazz rock fusion/progressive rock
Rating: 6/10
“Breakthrough”, released five years after its predecessor “Leave It Open” (1981), marked the return of French drum maestro Pierre Moerlen and his jazz rock fusion take on Gong. Besides Moerlen, the only familiar face on the album was future Gongzilla bassist Hansford Rowe, and the record came together with members of the Swedish prog rock band Tribute, who brought along two female singers, Lena and Nina Andersson. The two of them contributed the album’s main distinguishing feature: backing vocal harmonies, which, along with Moerlen’s reckless vocal experiments, popped up in the otherwise mostly instrumental jazz rock fusion that ruled “Breakthrough”. There was also some controversy over the album being inspired by the teachings of the Scientology cult, something Pierre deeply regretted later on, once he realized his mistake.
Moerlen’s approach to jazz rock fusion shifted a bit on “Breakthrough”, and not for the better: there are more synthetic-sounding synth textures, so that in places the music reminds you less of jazz rock fusion standards and more of the soundtrack to a Nintendo video game, while elsewhere you get elements of eighties symphonic prog rock, not all that different from what Eloy were doing at the time. This sonic trend is already noticeable on the opener “Spaceship Disco”, which is laced with electronic textures, disco rhythms and metallized guitar passages, while the only bit of traditional sound comes from the percussion, led by the vibraphone.
“Rock in Seven”, with epic female vocal harmonies in the background, just can’t decide which road to take between jazz fusion, progressive rock and world music. It ends up on some middle path that doesn’t leave much of an impression. “Sic 8” has a mighty guitar solo, while the synth textures completely ‘sing’ over the other rhythmic elements. “Poitou” is a somewhat more traditional piece with more of Moerlen’s percussion, while the pop rock-leaning “Children’s Dream” and “Portrait” are failed vocal experiments that, thanks to Moerlen’s heavily French-accented English, come off like bad jokes.
The dominance of synth arrangements on “Breakthrough”, especially on tracks with traditional percussion like “Romantic Punk”, would suit some new wave or neo-prog band better than Pierre’s jazz rock fusion. “The Road Out”, yet another laughable vocal experiment in French-accented English, has a hard rock guitar riff and a solid solo, but that’s all there is to mention on this one. Moerlen and company redeem themselves somewhat on the closing epic “Far East”, which has the pulse of Far Eastern music and at times sounds like a close encounter between Mike Oldfield in his less inspired period and the final phase of the cult band Japan.
“Breakthrough” had a few interesting ideas, but it was light-years away from Moerlen’s Gong at their best. In many ways it was a product of its era and has stood the test of time rather poorly. Of the Tribute members, only the excellent guitarist Ake Zieden, their most talented one, lasted until the next studio album, “Second Wind” (1988).
Review by: Peter Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Breakthrough (6:00)
2. Spaceship Disco (3:22)
3. Rock In Seven (3:10)
4. Six 8 (4:05)
5. Piotou (3:50)
6. Children’s Dream (3:20)
7. Portrait (4:18)
8. The Road Out (3:25)
9. Romantic Punk (2:17)
10. Far East (6:57)
Pierre Moerlen’s Gong:
Pierre Moerlen – drums, percussion, synthesizer, vocals, producer
Ake Ziedén – electric guitar
Hansford Rowe – bass guitar
Lena Andersson – vocals
Dag Westling – acoustic guitar
Christer Rhedin – Moog solos
Nina Andersson – saxophone, vocals
Michael Zylka – Chapman stick
